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A story exploring cultural ownership through the eyes of a museum curator has won this year’s 4thWrite prize.
Piyumi Kapugeekiyana was announced as the winner of the prize at a ceremony in London on Wednesday evening.
The competition, now in its ninth year and run in association with the Guardian, is open to short stories by unpublished writers of colour living in the UK and Ireland. The winner receives £1,000, a one-day publishing workshop at 4th Estate, and publication of their story on the Guardian website.
Kapugeekiyana’s story, The Original Is Not Here, follows Charitha, a Sri Lankan museum curator who receives backlash after staging an exhibit centring on a replica of Tārā, which is housed in the British Museum.
“Bold and inventive, this story pushes at the edges of form and meaning while remaining deeply human,” said Caleb Femi, the author, director, photographer, and one of the judges for this year’s competition. The story is “a triumph”, he added.
Candice Carty-Williams, who founded the prize while working as a marketing executive at 4th Estate before going on to publish her bestselling novel Queenie, was also on this year’s judging panel.
Kapugeekiyana “clearly has a flair for short story writing, creating a narrative that is engaging, topical and well-paced”, said judge and Guardian features writer Lucy Knight. “The story takes on the hot potato topic of cancel culture with great skill, offering a nuanced and thought-provoking take.”
Other writers shortlisted this year were Nana Kwesi Boateng, Yasmina Floyer, Linda Helen Yu, Jacqueline-Faith Ísọlá and Monica Davis.
Carty-Williams, Femi and Knight were joined on the judging panel by 4th Estate publisher Kishani Widyaratna, athlete Jazmin Sawyers, and Monica MacSwan, an associate agent at Aitken Alexander.
The Original Is Not Here is a “provocative, wry and surprisingly affecting story delivered with flair by an assured and original new voice”, said Widyaratna. “A real talent.”
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The story is a “masterful piece of writing which contains so much in just a few short pages”, said MacSwan. “Well-rounded characters, jokes, heartache, a twist. It’s a story unafraid to grapple with complex subjects such as identity politics, stolen artefacts, hubris and point of view. It gives its readers no answers but encourages us to discuss its themes with nuance and handle with care.”
Last year’s prize was won by Yan F Zhang for her story Fleeting Marrow, which is based on the real-life deportation of Chinese seafarers from the UK after the second world war.
Writers previously recognised through the award include Bolu Babalola, the author of Love in Colour and Honey & Spice, Guy Gunaratne, who wrote In Our Mad and Furious City and Mister, Mister, and Kit Fan, author of Diamond Hill.
